Epidemiologic, clinical and laboratory findings of patients with brucellosis in Hamadan, west of Iran.

BACKGROUND Brucellosis is one of the most common infectious diseases in some areas of Iran. Brucellosis has various clinical manifestations and should be considered in the differential diagnosis of many infectious and non-infectious diseases. The aims of this study were to determine the epidemiological, clinical and laboratory findings of the disease in patients with brucellosis in Hamadan, west of Iran. METHODS In this cross- sectional study, 230 brucellosis patients admitted in Farshchian Hospital in Hamadan from March 2005 to March 2010 were studied for epidemiological, clinical and laboratory characteristics of brucellosis. The patients who had manifestations compatible with brucellosis and standard tube agglutination test or Coombs test ≥1/80 plus 2ME ≥1/40 were enrolled. Data were analyzed using SPSS statistical package, version 15. RESULTS About 43.5% of patients were female with mean age of 40.84 yr old. 27.8% of cases were living in urban and 72.2% in rural areas. The most contagious seasons were spring and summer. The most common transmission way was consuming of contaminated dairy products (60.3%); however, 39.7% of patients had a history of animal contacts. The most common symptoms were fever (77.4%), arthralgia (70%), sweating (47%), malaise and fatigue (46.5%). The most common clinical signs were fever and peripheral arthritis. Leukocytosis and elevated ESR (>20 mm/h) were reported in 20.8% and 59.5% of cases, respectively. Elevated CRP was detected in 52.9% of patients. CONCLUSION Brucellosis should be considered in the differential diagnosis of patients with prolonged fever, spondylitis or peripheral arthritis in endemic areas.